


Monsters in the Crypt

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Rape Recovery, Sexual Slavery, Tumblr Prompt, cause i'm about those snuggles not those struggles, only the comfort is graphic - i completely avoid all other details
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:26:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7916812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Padme and Anakin have a discussion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters in the Crypt

**Author's Note:**

> "Anonymous asked: What about.. a fic of the aftermath of Palpatine being an ass. Like palpy does some non-con sexual thing to Ani, and Obi or Padme walks in just after and kills a bitch. Or palpy does a non-con sexual thing to Vader and pain and angst. No comfort. Or maybe a little comfort? But yeah, drop a text post saying no thanks if you don't want to do this prompt cause anxiety is a bitch in my head."
> 
> I hope you're okay with the fact that I turned a perfectly good angst prompt into Snuggle Buggle Fest 2016, anon

He could barely look at her.

 

His leg was jumping, his fingers were dancing wildly, his eyes darting about the room, lingering on the exits. He sat, back folded, hands on his knees, his whole body thrumming with movement. Still, somehow, he managed to be coiled like a spring about to snap.

 

Nervousness was dripping off of him. Fear, even, the desperate need to flee.

 

Padme found that she could barely look at him, too.

 

She wasn’t angry – not with him. With herself, with the Jedi, with the galaxy – but not with him. It just hurt, is all, to look at him and _know_ ; to know that he was feeling pain.

 

“Anakin,” she said, quietly.

 

His eyes snapped to hers. He looked worse than the last time she saw him; eyes bloodshot, thick bruising beneath them, pale, hair wilder than ever. He looked mixed up, lost, and she almost expected him to yank on her pants leg and ask,  _where's my mama? We got separated in the store. I can't find 'er anywhere._

 

“Padme,” he said, his voice clinging to the name. “I – hi.”

 

“Hi,” Padme said. She couldn’t bring herself to smile at his awkward, bashful look.

 

They both fell silent.

 

Padme hated this. They should be able to talk to each other, to understand each other, inside and out; and yet, they were both so desperate for an escape that they found themselves ignoring it all. She pretended that she didn’t hear him get up in the middle of the night, he pretended that he didn’t notice the tension in her shoulders and around her eyes.

 

They were living a lie – not because they were hiding their marriage, but because they were hiding _from_ it. She was terrified of how much further it could have gone; how long would it have taken them just to speak?

 

Keeping to themselves had gotten them here; so, Padme spoke her mind.

 

“We should be able to talk to each other, right now,” Padme said, staring him dead in the eyes. He needed to understand, too. “But we can’t. We’ve spent too long ignoring the important things, Annie, and we just can’t do that anymore.”

 

Anakin swallowed, and nodded. “I – I agree. I want to help you, Padme. Sometimes you just look – you just look so _tired_ – “

 

Padme’s eyes softened. “You look the same way, you know. We’re both in need of a vacation.”

 

_Especially after this._

 

“It would be nice,” Anakin said, twiddling his thumbs.

 

“I say we make a new effort,” Padme said. “All of this – it sucks. It’s terrible, exhausting, and we want to get away from it all. But we have to _confront it_ to do that. I won’t let us ignore it anymore.”

 

Anakin was a runner. Not in the face of danger - but in the face of security. He understood unstable, shaky. Stability - even of the emotional kind, as she was offering - made no sense.

 

Anakin nodded. “I’m… I’m with you.”

 

Padme came to sit beside him. She knew that he wasn’t going to want to look at her for the conversation they were about to have. She threaded her arm around his, wrapping her hand around the wrist of his glove, feeling the hard metal beneath it. She laid her head against his shoulder, curls draping over him – he liked physical contact, she knew. He’d always been the cuddlebug. 

 

“I don’t want to force you,” she said. “You can do it on your own time, but – we can’t leave this alone.”

 

“Okay,” Anakin whispered. “O-Okay.”

 

“Good,” she said. “I’m proud of you.”

 

Anakin’s head whipped to face her. “But, why – “

 

“What is there not to be proud of?” Padme hummed. “It’s you. You’re always doing incredible things.”

 

“I’m… I’m not.”

 

“Really?” Padme asked.

 

“I’m not,” Anakin said, voice thread. “I’m not – I keep failing _everyone._ I can’t do better. It’s not working.”

 

“What Palpatine did to you is not your failure,” Padme said. “It’s not. It is not, and will never be, your fault. You did nothing wrong.”

 

“I – I trusted him,” Anakin whispered, and then he was burying his face into his hands, shoulders shaking.

 

Padme clucked her tongue, and gently pried his hands away, turning his head towards her. His cheeks were flushed with shame, and his eyes were fixed firmly on the ground.

 

“Don’t be ashamed,” she said, brushing his hair away from his face. It really needed a good wash. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

 

“I’m supposed to be – _hic_ – better than this. I'm - I'm supposed to - ”

 

He was truly crying now, big, shuddering sobs, and blushing to the tips of his ears. Padme weaved her hands behind his head and pulled him into her, trying to wrap him up.

 

Telling him anything of meaning now would be a waste, so Padme just let him cry, crooning soft words into his neck.

 

It takes a long time for Anakin to wind down – nearly an hour. His sobs turned into sniffles and hiccups, messy and gross, but very, very necessary.

 

“You needed that,” she murmured.

 

“Jedi aren’t supposed to,” he whispered. “They’re supposed to release it into the Force.”

 

“You’re going to be different. You’re going to release it in the air,” she said. “You’re going to talk about it, because that’s what you need more.”

 

Anakin shifts, leaning against her. Stars, he’s _heavy._

 

Anakin always hugged and cuddled that way – he put all of his weight on you, throwing everything he had into it. It was loving, but crushing.

 

“He asked,” Anakin said. “He – he asked. He’s not as bad – it’s – I didn’t say the right thing.”

 

Padme froze. “Anakin, did you... did you say yes?”

 

Anakin nodded against her shoulder.

 

“You… you have to, right?” Anakin asked, pulling away from Padme. “If someone asks – “

 

“No, you don’t,” Padme interrupted. “No, no, oh – you don’t have to consent. You can disagree. You never, _ever_ have to.”

 

“But – “

 

“No,” Padme said. “In no circumstance should you ever be forced to have sex, Anakin. You shouldn’t.”

 

“My mom – she said you _can’t_ say no,” Anakin said, panicked. “She wasn’t wrong. You can’t.”

 

At first, Padme was confused. She didn't know Shmi Skywalker for long, but Padme knew that she had loved her son more than the desert loved their suns.

 

“She never got to teach you otherwise,” Padme whispered. The puzzle pieces clicked together – Anakin, a slave, offered up to be used, and Shmi, trying to desperately protect her small son, no matter the cost. “Oh, stars. No, Anakin – you can say no. Slavery is different."

 

“’Cause… ‘cause they would’ve blown us up,” Anakin said. “Right? If you said no, there was all sorts of things they could do.”

 

Padme’s jaw tightened, but she nodded. “That’s right. That’s right, Anakin. They could’ve done worse if you’d said no. So, you couldn’t – but that doesn’t mean that you always have to agree to it, now. That doesn’t make what they did right, either. You’re free, Annie.”

 

Anakin swallowed. “So… so it _is_ my fault.”

 

“No,” Padme said. “Palpatine still took advantage of you. He put – he put Ryl drugs in your tea, remember? They’re called will suppressants, made specifically to make people more… pliable.”

 

Anakin’s face twisted. “I can’t believe they even make something like that.”

 

“And he used something that awful on you. He wanted to hurt you,” Padme said, softly.

 

“I… I told him to stop, and he wouldn’t,” Anakin said. “After he kept – _touching.”_

 

“And he should’ve stopped,” Padme said. “But he didn’t. He was wrong.”

 

Anakin shook his head. “He – he was like a father to me, Padme – “

 

“That doesn’t make it okay,” Padme said.

 

Anakin nodded. “It… it doesn’t, does it?”

 

She could’ve kissed him.

 

“You’re absolutely right,” Padme said. “Absolutely.”

 

Anakin beamed. “Where – I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

 

“Hopefully, you’d grieve,” she said, “but you’d survive, and you’d get to be happy.”

 

His gaze softened, and he pulled her into his lap. “I love you, you know. You’re so – so – so _kind_.”

 

Padme blushed, and kissed him on the cheek. “You know it isn’t over, right?”

 

“I want it to be.”

 

“It doesn’t work that way,” Padme said. “This is something you can’t do alone – I won’t let you. I’m going to be behind you every step of the way.”

 

“What did I do to deserve you?”

 

“You don’t earn love, Annie. It just happens.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Generally, it seems my prompts are long enough to put on AO3 and get away with it, and I'm a slut for validation and feedback (it fuels me) so I'm just going to drop them all here. Have fun suffering, trying to scroll through the Star Wars archive and being flooded with this shit.


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